Vox. XVII. No. 431. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



3-i9 



MINOR CROPS ON COCO-NUT 

 PLANTATIONS. 



An interesting story of the establishment of a coco-nut 

 plantation in Porto Rico, written by Arthur J. Harvey, 

 appears in the Rcvista de Agricultura de Puerto Rico, 

 April-May 1918, from which some of the beginners in 

 coconut planting in these smaller islands may get hints. 



Mr. Harvey and his brother purchased, at the begin- 

 ning of 1913, 530 acres of land in the neighbourhood of 

 San Juan, with the object of establishing a coconut planta- 

 tion. The property, as a whole, is flat, rising only a few 

 feet above the level of the sea. The soil is a sandy loam. 



A part of the estij.te had been under pine-apple cultiva- 

 tion for three years previously, but the greater part of the 

 knd remained in pasture, or was covered by bush There 

 were only six coco-nut palms in bearing on the property. 



After having performed some necessary clearing the 

 brothers began to set in their coco nut palms at a dis- 

 tance of 33 feet apart each way. This gave forty trees 

 to the acre. Although this space between palm and pilm 

 seems considerable when they are young, yet by the 

 time the palms, if healthy, are between four and five years 

 old, the leaves touch one another. The planting of coco-nuts 

 in seed- beds is advised, rather than planting them in si/ii. 

 Mr. Harvey accentuates the importance of chosing the 

 nuts for planting not only with reference to their size, but 

 looking to their origin from healthy and productive parent 

 trees. Very soon it was determined that it would be unad vis- 

 able to pasture animals on the plantation. In the first place, 

 because of the damage which cattle do to small palms: and 

 secondly, because of the necessity of keeping the ground in 

 cul'iration. 



.Stable manure has been the principal lertillizer 

 used on the property. In opening the holes for the 

 young plants they were made 3 feet in diameter by 

 & foot and a half in depth, and a bag of dung was 

 placed in each hole. The urine of the cattle was care- 

 fully preserved in a concrete cistern, and the application of 

 it to the palms was very beneficial. The method of applying it 

 was by transporting it to the field in barrels and immediately 

 after having poured it round the trunk, covering it with earth, 

 to avoid as far as possible loss of ammonia. Good results 

 also have been obtained by using seaweed and other marine 

 plants heaped around the trees. 



It was desirable to maintain under cultivation the larg- 

 est possible area of land between the coco-nut trees, and in 

 order partly to recover the expense which this could not but 

 occasion, potatoes, maize, beans, etc., were grown. 



The planting of potatoes has been the most extensive, 

 occupying at present some 40 acres. The produce of this 

 crop has met with ready sale at a price from "2 to 3c. per lb., 

 AS varieties were chosen which were of local reputation. 



The crop of potatoes reaped during 1917 reached a total 

 of about -12,000 fib. from 20 acres planted, that is to say, 

 an average of 21,000 Itj. per acre. During this period the 

 local market price per D). was 2Jc. on an average, giving a 

 gross return of .?52 50 per acre. No kind of fertilizer was 

 used on this crop. The ground however was prepared as 

 usual by ploughing and forking, and the sli])g planted in 

 trenches. Besides the potato crop, yams and tanias have 

 been planted to a lesser extent. Certain varieties of tanias 

 gave exeellent results on the flat land. 



In addition a respectable quantity of maize has been 

 reaped. The greatest obstacle to the cultivation of the 

 maize on the sandy soil was the damage occasioned by the 

 changa or mole cricket, which in many cases prevented the 

 plants from growing uniformly. 



At the present time a great ei tension has been made in 

 the cultivation of beans of various kinds. In one variety of 

 these not less than 2.5 acres.have been cultivated. Great 

 benefit has accrued, as might be expected, from alternating 

 the cultivation of potatoes with that of legumes. 



Actually, of about SOCTacres planted in young coco-nutsi 

 most of it could be maintained under minor crops, especially 

 by the cultivation of rootssuch as yams and potatoes. la 

 same cases, where it has not been po.ssible to p'ace under" 

 cultivation the whole extent of ground between the coco nut 

 palms, it has been found most de.sirable to plant sword beans, 

 because not only are they of value as a fertilizer, but because 

 of the protection which thefc foliage gives to i he superficial 

 roots ot the young palms. 



The primary aim of Mr. Harvey and his brother was 

 to plant coco-nuts on their estate, and to induce them to 

 produce fruit as soon as possible. The production therefore 

 of minor crops was only of secondary importance. The 

 experience acquired by this procedure has proved to their 

 satisfaction that the practice of more or less intensive cultiv- 

 ation on a coco-nut plantation far from occasioning preju- 

 dicial results to the growth of the coco-nut palms, has been 

 of benefit. On the sections of the estate thus cultivated the 

 palms have grown twice as tall as those on other sections 

 where the land around them has not been cultivated. 



Recipes for the Preparation of Coco-nut 

 Press-Caike for Human Food.— The possibilities of the 

 press cake obtained from copra after the expression of the oil 

 are worthy of consideration not only as a stock food, 

 but for human consumption as well. Recipes for the 

 preparation of food products from the cocs-nnt meal 

 obtained from this process are given as follows: — 



CtJco-iiuf ij'Mi! sioiies: J-cup coco-nut meal, i-cup flour, 

 1 teaspoonful baking powder, J-cup sugar, ^-cup eggs, milk 

 sufficient to make batter. J-teaspoonful salt — cook thirty 

 minutes in a hot oven. G'cv;-;;/// .^'^I'wj.v i-cup coco nut meal, 

 H-cup flour, 1^; teaspDonful baking powder, 1 cup sugar, milk 

 suffic'.ent to make batter, ^teaspoonful salt— cook for thirty 

 minutes in a hot oven. ChV-iiiit gridd/e adrs: ^-cup coco-nut 

 ineal, .'.cup flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 1 cup eggs, 

 mils suflicient to make batter, i-teaapoonful salt — ;ook until 

 brown, fried in lard or crisco. Coco-mit nisiis: J-cup coco- 

 nut meal, i-cup flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, ,';-cup 

 sugar, 1 cup eggs, ij-cup milk, .1 -teaspoonful silt— cook from 

 thirty to forty minutes in hot oven. A i teaspoonful each of 

 nutmeg and cinnamon is added to the dough, and the surface 

 is sprinkled with sug.*r and cinnamon. Cuco-niit bread: J-cup 

 coco-nut meal, J-cup flour, 5 teaspoonfuls baking powder, 

 J-cup sugar, 1 cup eggs, 1 cup inilk, i'-teaspoonful salt — cook 

 thirty to forty minutes in a hot oven. 



It will be noticed that in all of these products no lard, 

 crisco, or butter is needed for shortening. Water may be 

 substituted in all cases for sweet milk. 



In view of laboratory tests, it seems possible 

 that coco-nut meal miglit be substituted to advantage for 

 wheat flour and lard in the preparation of cheap edible 

 products. It must, however, be borne in mind, that the 

 meal used was obtained from freshly dried cojo.nut meat 

 and not from ordinary I'ommeicial copra meal; meal from 

 fresh machine-dried copra would be valuable for the same 

 purpose. It would seem that there is a good opportunity 

 for a plant producing edible oil and pre3S»:ake for ham.an 

 consumption. 



